Toyota RAV4 EV Won't Be Built at Tesla's California Plant

Toyota and Tesla have just announced that the upcoming all-electric Toyota RAV4 will not be built at an assembly plant in Northern California as originally planned.

Instead, the RAV4 EV will be assembled alongside its gas-powered counterpart at Toyota's Canadian plant in Woodstock, Ontario. Production is expected to begin sometime next year.

"The Tesla-Toyota joint development team has agreed that building the vehicle at the Woodstock plant on the same line as the gasoline-powered RAV4, will streamline and simplify the production process and guarantee the highest level of quality control," said Ray Tanguay, Chairman of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada.

The automakers recently finalized a deal in which Toyota will pay Tesla $100 million for the electric powertrain that includes the battery, motor, gear box and electronic gear. Tesla will manufacture the components from its facility in California and ship them to Toyota's Canadian assembly plant. Toyota also confirmed that the RAV4 EV will be sold to the public following a false rumor that it was only allocated for fleet sales.